AboutOctane Expertise I can Answer Video Game Compatability Problems (PAL, NTSC, JAP) for Atari 2600, 5200, NES, Super Nintendo/SFC, N64, Gamecube, Wii, Gameboy, GBA, DS, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive/Genisis, Game Gear, Mega CD, Nomad, Saturn, Dreamcast, Lynx, Jagura, Philips CDI, 3DO, Playstation, PS2, PSP and Xbox. Plus Ways around them to play wrong regions games on most consoles.
I also have an extensive knowledge of service and repair with most home consoles as well as arcade/pinball machines.
I have a reasonable general knowledge of most new to older games (I personally own about 1000 games and almost every console known to man.)
Experience Playstation, SNES, SATURN, Genisis/MD, NES, MS conversions. Controler conversions SNES to NES. Game conversion. Multi Carts. Remix and re-wire. PSP repair. Arcade building and customising. Video Game repair
Question QUESTION: Hello, I have question that pertains to replacing a TV with a Monitor for videogame related purposes. Basically, I moved from the States to Germany and I own a U.S. spec Xbox 360. I want to be able to play my Xbox without having to ship over a U.S. TV, or buying one of the high end TV models that supports all the different types (PAL, NTSC, JAPANESE)
Can I purchase a Monitor that is also a TV such as the Samsung SyncMaster P2370HD that has HDMI, component, etc inputs and be able to plug in my Xbox and play on it without having to worry about the whole PAL NTSC issue? I would purchase the Monitor from Germany of course.
Thank you in advance for all your help!
ANSWER: Gday Again James,
Again you are correct. If you stick to either a HD TV or a Computer monitor (You need a X-box to VGA connector cable and some sort of sound system to get this to work)
If you get a HD TV and fairly much stick to 720p you should be fine. Although there are different standards in HD in the world. 720p is a universal standard as well as 1080p. (576p is more PAL and 480p is NTSC.
I would also have a look at the following for games.
One follow up question. I was looking at 2 monitors in particular, the LG Flatron M237WD and the Samsung SyncMaster P2370HD. I was hoping you could take a look at the specs of these monitors and see if they fulfill the previously mentioned specs you talked about.
You don't have to use the links I provided if you believe you have a better source of information. I just thought it would make your life easier :)
Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions and I look forward to hearing from you!
ANSWER: Gday again James,
Both look fine. (Be up to a personal preference to pick between the 2)
The 2 things I would query on is Power specs and TV tuner. Remember anything brought in the US will need a Stepdown power converter to run in Germany. (US Power 110V , Germany Power 220V) Also the built in TV tuners will be NTSC compatible only. Provided you will be hooking it up to some sort of Cable Network that broadcasts in HD it should be fine. Most of the world is going away from Analog anyway so you probably will not have a problem there.
Hope that helps you further.
Octane
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Good day Octane,
I just wanted to clarify, I don't believe I was specific enough. The 2 monitors I previously mentioned are German-spec. As in, I plan on buying 1 of the 2 from Germany, this way I believe it should take care of the "Power specs and TV tuner" problem you previously mentioned. I don't plan on bringing whichever monitor I end up buying, back to the States.
So, the idea is U.S. Xbox 360 that has a German-spec power brick (from a european Xbox 360) attached to 1 of the 2 previously mentioned european-spec monitors...what do you think, possible?
Answer Gday James,
Don't see why it will not work with the German power supply plugged into a German TV. Should play your US Xbox 360 providing it a HD and you have the HD settings right.
You might even be able to play a lot of local games purchased in Germany. See the prior compatibility list I mentioned (Although be on the lookout as in Germany the have German Language only games as well as multilingual ones English/German/French)
The only other thing that is a bit of a query is XBL network. You will be able to connect but I believe it will only connect to the US network. Which depending on your Internet speed may cause small problem because your are actually in Germany. Also the time differences there may be less players on you local server (Which will be US) and you might have problems playing against buds in Germany if they are on the Euro XBL network. A email off to MS/XBL support may answer that for you.
Good luck with your tour over in Germany. (It a cool country, the Beer will knock you silly for a while and the people there are very quite friendly)
